Mobile wireless communications device having touch activated near field communications (NFC) circuit

ABSTRACT

A mobile wireless communications device includes a housing and a circuit board carried by the housing and including Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry and a processor carried by the housing and operative with each other. A Near Field Communications (NFC) circuit is positioned on the circuit board and operative with the processor for communicating in accordance with the NFC communication protocol. A touch activated sensor is supported by the housing and operative for enabling operation of the NFC circuit when touched to establish NFC communications from the communications device.

FIELD

This device and method relates to the field of communications devices,and more particularly, to mobile wireless communications devices andrelated systems and methods that use Near Field Communications (NFC).

BACKGROUND

Cellular communication systems continue to grow in popularity and havebecome an integral part of both personal and business communications.Cellular telephones and similar devices allow users to place and receivephone calls most anywhere they travel. Moreover, as cellular telephonetechnology has increased, so too has the functionality of cellulardevices. For example, many cellular devices now incorporate PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA) features such as calendars, address books, tasklists, calculators, memo and writing programs, etc. These multi-functiondevices usually allow users to send and receive electronic mail (email)messages wirelessly and access the internet via a cellular networkand/or a wireless local area network (WLAN), for example.

Some cellular devices incorporate contactless card technology and/orNear Field Communication chips. Near Field Communication technology iscommonly used for contactless short-range communications based on radiofrequency identification (RFID) standards, using magnetic fieldinduction to enable communication between electronic devices, includingmobile wireless communications devices. These short-range applicationsinclude payment and ticketing, electronic keys, identification, deviceset-up service and similar information sharing. This short-range highfrequency wireless communication technology exchanges data betweendevices over a short distance, such as only a few centimeters.

Near Field Communication (NFC) technology is an extension of the ISO14443 proximity-card standard as a contactless card, RF ID standard thatincorporates the interface of a smart card and a reader into one device.A NFC device such as a mobile phone typically includes an NFC integratedcircuit (IC) chip that communicates with both existing ISO 14443 smartcards and readers and other NFC devices and compatible with any existingcontactless infrastructure. The NFC IC chips use magnetic fieldinduction where two loop antennas are located near each other and forman air-core transformer. The technology operates on the unlicensed radiofrequency ISM band of about 13.56 MHz and has a bandwidth of about 2MHz. The working distance is usually about 0 to 20 centimeters and auser of the NFC device touches another NEC device or tag to initiatecommunication, with data rates ranging from 106 to about 424 kbit/s.Most mobile wireless communications devices operate in an activecommunications mode using a modified Miller and 100% amplitude shiftkeyed (ASK) code unless a passive mode is used in which a Manchester andASK code is used. Further details are set forth in the Mobile NFCTechnical Guidelines, Version 2.0, November 2007 by GSMA, the disclosurewhich is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features and advantages will become apparent from thedetailed description which follows when considered in light of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a mobile wirelesscommunications device configured as a handheld device that can be usedin accordance with non-limiting examples and illustrating basic internalcomponents thereof in accordance with a non-limiting example.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the mobile wireless communicationsdevice of FIG. 1 in accordance with a non-limiting example.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing basic functional circuitcomponents that can be used in the mobile wireless communications deviceof FIGS. 1-2.

FIG. 4 is another block diagram of an example of a mobile wirelesscommunications device and showing the components for the NFC IC chip,antenna circuit and touch activated sensors in accordance with anon-limiting example.

FIG. 5 is an example of a high-level flowchart illustrating a basicsequence of operation for the touch activated NYC circuit in accordancewith a non-limiting example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Different embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodimentsare shown. Many different forms can be set forth and describedembodiments should not be construed as limited to the embodiments setforth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that thisdisclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey thescope to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout.

The NFC and RFID communications protocols are based on responding to anexternal request by sending the universal ID (UID) number. Thus, anNFC-enabled phone (or NEC-enabled credit card) sends its UID to anotherdevice without the owner's consent, raising security and privacyconcerns. For example, an NFC-enabled credit card, such as theMasterCard PayPass™ card, can authenticate a less than $50.00transaction without the owner's consent by bringing a reader/writerclose to the card, for example, even when the card is in an owner'spocket. Also, an NFC-enabled phone is typically used as a reader/writerand uses relatively high power to provide an electromagnetic field forsearching and powering up tags. Thus, the NFC radio on a NFC-enabledwireless communications device or other handheld has to be turned ononly when required. There are some discussions in the industry for atechnical solution allowing the NFC to be on only when a NFC applicationis running. This is a better solution than having the device“always-on”, but this technical solution is inadequate because itcompromises the ease-of-use and simplicity that the NFC device issupposed to address. In that technical solution a user must go to thehome screen of the mobile wireless communications device and stop theapplication that the user is currently using and find the correct NFCapplication, start that correct NFC application and hold the device infront of a reader/tag or other NFC device. This technical solution iscumbersome for a technology that is based on simplicity and ease-of-use.

A mobile wireless communications device includes a housing and a circuitboard carried by the housing and including Radio Frequency (RF)circuitry and a processor carried by the housing and operative with eachother. A Near Field Communications (NFC) circuit is positioned on thecircuit board and operative with the processor for communicating inaccordance with the NFC communication protocol. A first touch activatedsensor is supported by the housing and operative for enabling operationof the NFC circuit when touched to establish NEC communications from thecommunications device.

The mobile wireless communications device has a touch activated sensorpositioned to be touched by at least one finger when the housing ismanually grasped and placed near another NFC enabled tag or device.First and second touch activated sensors can be supported by the housingand positioned to be touched to enable the NFC circuit and establish NFCcommunications. The housing includes opposing sides and a touchactivated sensor is positioned at each side of the housing such thatboth must be touched to establish NFC communications.

A touch activated sensor can be formed as a capacitive touch sensor andbe formed as a capacitive-to-digital converter and processor associatedtherewith. The NFC circuit is formed as a NFC integrated circuit (IC)chip mounted on a circuit board. A power circuit supplies power to theNFC circuit and a switch is connected between the power circuit andconnected to the at least one touch activated sensor and operable forswitching power ON to the NFC circuit only when the touch activatedsensor is touched. Another touch activated sensor can ensure that thereare no false positives when the NFC circuit is enabled. A method aspectis also set forth.

In accordance with non-limiting examples, a mobile wirelesscommunications device includes a housing and circuit board carried bythe housing. One or more circuit boards carry in one aspect a radiofrequency (RF) circuit and processor operative with each other, and aNear Field Communications (NFC) integrated circuit operable with theprocessor for allowing the mobile wireless communications device tooperate with other NFC enabled devices and conduct various transactionssuch as mobile ticketing, mobile payment, smart poster, BluetoothPairing, electronic tickets, and numerous other mobile commerceapplications. The NFC circuit in one non-limiting example is a separateNFC IC chip positioned such as on a circuit board containing otherprocessors and components.

In this description, the terms touch sensors and touch activated sensorscan refer to the same sensor. The mobile wireless communications deviceincludes a first touch sensor and preferably first and second touchsensors positioned at the side of the device to activate the NFC circuiton the mobile wireless communications device when the user intends touse the NFC circuitry in the device. Typically, a touch sensor ispositioned at each side of the mobile wireless communications device,permitting the user to grasp the device by two fingers and activate theNFC circuit. Typically the touch sensors are located in the middlesection at the sides and near the same level as the center of gravityfor the device to make it easier for a user to hold the device with twofingers. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the user to balance thedevice in a quick manner and for efficient operation when trying toactivate and use the NFC circuitry. The touch sensors can be formed ascapacitive touch sensors in a non-limiting example, and when in afinger-detect mode, use very low power (less than about 20microamperes), and thus, the capacitive touch sensors can be “on” allthe time (or perhaps only when backlight is on).

Typically, the capacitive touch sensors will be located below thehousing in those places that get touched when the user desires to usethe NFC circuit. For example, the capacitive touch sensors could belocated on both sides of the housing forming the mobile wirelesscommunications device such that the housing can be marked with thelocation of the capacitive touch sensors. It is also possible to have aNFC logo on the housing of the device and the capacitive touch sensorsplaced below the NFC logo on the housing. Although capacitive touchsensors are preferred, it should be understood that it is also possibleto use a mechanical switch or some other resistive touch sensor if thesensors are placed where there is little chance that the switch orsensors are unintentionally activated, for example, when the mobilewireless communications device is contained in the pocket of a user.

Any touch sensors used with mobile wireless communications device orsimilar sensors or switches could also be used for credit cards and NFCtags. The touch sensor that detects the finger touch could be added tothe NFC chip in the card and when the user touches the card surface, theNFC circuitry as a radio is activated. A user could touch an area thatis marked on the card before the card responds to any NFC reader/writer.

A brief description will now proceed relative to FIGS. 1-3, whichdiscloses an example of a mobile wireless communications device, forexample, a portable cellular radio, which can incorporate non-limitingexamples of various circuits that can be used with the touch activatedNear Field Communications circuitry as will be described in greaterdetail below. FIGS. 1-3 are representative non-limiting examples of themany different types of functional circuit components and theirinterconnection, and operative for use with the Near FieldCommunications circuitry.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, an example of a mobile wirelesscommunications device 20, such as a portable cellular radio is firstdescribed. This device 20 illustratively includes a housing 21 having anupper portion 46 and a lower portion 47, and a dielectric substrate(i.e., circuit board) 67, such as a conventional printed circuit board(PCB) substrate, for example, carried by the housing. It should beunderstood that one or more circuit boards can be used. The NFC circuitcould be on one circuit board and the processor and other circuitry onanother circuit board. A housing cover (not shown in detail) wouldtypically cover the front portion of the housing. The term circuit board67 as used hereinafter can refer to any dielectric substrate, PCB,ceramic substrate or other circuit carrying structure for carryingsignal circuits and electronic components within the mobile wirelesscommunications device 20. The illustrated housing 21 is a statichousing, for example, as opposed to a flip or sliding housing which areused in many cellular telephones. However, these flip, sliding and otherhousing configurations may also be used.

Circuitry 48 is carried by the circuit board 67, such as amicroprocessor, memory, one or more wireless transceivers (e.g.,cellular, WLAN, etc.), which includes RF circuitry, including audio andpower circuitry, including any keyboard circuitry. It should beunderstood that keyboard circuitry could be on a separate keyboard,etc., as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. A battery (notshown) is also preferably carried by the housing 21 for supplying powerto the circuitry 48. The term RF circuitry could encompass theinteroperable RF transceiver circuitry, power circuitry and audiocircuitry.

Furthermore, an audio output transducer 49 (e.g., a speaker) is carriedby an upper portion 46 of the housing 21 and connected to the circuitry48. One or more user input interface devices, such as a keypad(keyboard) 23 (FIG. 2), is also preferably carried by the housing 21 andconnected to the circuitry 48. The term keypad as used herein alsorefers to the term keyboard, indicating the user input devices havinglettered and/or numbered keys commonly known and other embodiments,including multi-top or predictive entry modes. Other examples of userinput interface devices include a scroll wheel 37 and a back button 36.Of course, it will be appreciated that other user input interfacedevices (e.g., a stylus or touch screen interface) may be used in otherembodiments.

An antenna 45 is preferably positioned at the lower portion 47 in thehousing and can be formed as a pattern of conductive traces that make anantenna circuit, which physically forms the antenna. It is connected tothe circuitry 48 on the main circuit board 67. In one non-limitingexample, the antenna could be formed on an antenna circuit board sectionthat extends from the main circuit board at the lower portion of thehousing. Also, a separate keyboard circuit board could be used.

Another benefit of the illustrated configuration is that it providesmore room for one or more auxiliary input/output (I/O) devices 50 to becarried at the upper portion 46 of the housing. Furthermore, byseparating the antenna 45 from the auxiliary I/O device(s) 50, this mayallow for reduced interference therebetween.

Some examples of auxiliary I/O devices 50 include a WLAN (e.g.,Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11) antenna for providing WLAN communicationcapabilities, and/or a satellite positioning system (e.g., GPS, Galileo,etc.) antenna for providing position location capabilities, as will beappreciated by those skilled in the art. Other examples of auxiliary I/Odevices 50 include a second audio output transducer (e.g., a speaker forspeaker phone operation), and a camera lens for providing digital cameracapabilities, an electrical device connector (e.g., USB, headphone,secure digital (SD) or memory card, etc.).

It should be noted that the term “input/output” as used herein for theauxiliary I/O device(s) 50 means that such devices may have input and/oroutput capabilities, and they need not provide both in all embodiments.That is, devices such as camera lenses may only receive an opticalinput, for example, while a headphone jack may only provide an audiooutput.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a separate NFC circuit chip 51 can beassociated with other input/output devices and be operably connected toside mounted touch sensors 52, 53, such as capacitive touch sensors. Athird touch sensor 54, such as a capacitive touch sensor can be locatedat the bottom of the device and used for determining that there are no“false positives,” as will be explained in detail below. For example,the third capacitive touch sensor 54 would be positioned such that ifthe two side capacitive touch sensors 52 and 53 are activated while thethird capacitive touch sensor is activated, the NFC circuit 51 will notbe activated.

The device 20 further illustratively includes a display 22, for example,a liquid crystal display (LCD) carried by the housing 21 and connectedto the circuitry 48. A back button 36 and scroll wheel 37 can also beconnected to the circuitry 48 for allowing a user to navigate menus,text, etc., as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Thescroll wheel 37 may also be referred to as a “thumb wheel” or a “trackwheel” in some instances. The keypad 23 illustratively includes aplurality of multi-symbol keys 24 each having indicia of a plurality ofrespective symbols thereon. The keypad 23 also illustratively includesan alternate function key 25, a next key 26, a space key 27, a shift key28, a return (or enter) key 29, and a backspace/delete key 30.

The next key 26 is also used to enter a “*” symbol upon first pressingor actuating the alternate function key 25. Similarly, the space key 27,shift key 28 and backspace key 30 are used to enter a “0” and “#”,respectively, upon first actuating the alternate function key 25. Thekeypad 23 further illustratively includes a send key 31, an end key 32,and a convenience (i.e., menu) key 39 for use in placing cellulartelephone calls, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Moreover, the symbols on each key 24 are arranged in top and bottomrows. The symbols in the bottom rows are entered when a user presses akey 24 without first pressing the alternate function key 25, while thetop row symbols are entered by first pressing the alternate functionkey. As seen in FIG. 2, the multi-symbol keys 24 are arranged in thefirst three rows on the keypad 23 below the send and end keys 31, 32.Furthermore, the letter symbols on each of the keys 24 are arranged todefine a QWERTY layout. That is, the letters on the keypad 23 arepresented in a three-row format, with the letters of each row being inthe same order and relative position as in a standard QWERTY keypad.

Each row of keys (including the fourth row of function keys 25-29) isarranged in five columns. The multi-symbol keys 24 in the second, third,and fourth columns of the first, second, and third rows have numericindicia thereon (i.e., 1 through 9) accessible by first actuating thealternate function key 25. Coupled with the next, space, and shift keys26, 27, 28, which respectively enter a “*”, “0”, and “#” upon firstactuating the alternate function key 25, as noted above, this set ofkeys defines a standard telephone keypad layout, as would be found on atraditional touch-tone telephone, as will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art.

Accordingly, the mobile wireless communications device 20 as describedmay advantageously be used not only as a traditional cellular phone, butit may also be conveniently used for sending and/or receiving data overa cellular or other network, such as Internet and email data, forexample. Of course, other keypad configurations may also be used inother embodiments. Multi-tap or predictive entry modes may be used fortyping e-mails, etc. as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

The antenna 45 is preferably formed as a multi-frequency band antenna,which provides enhanced transmission and reception characteristics overmultiple operating frequencies. More particularly, the antenna 45 isdesigned to provide high gain, desired impedance matching, and meetapplicable SAR requirements over a relatively wide bandwidth andmultiple cellular frequency bands. By way of example, the antenna 45preferably operates over five bands, namely a 850 MHz Global System forMobile Communications (GSM) band, a 900 MHz GSM band, a DCS band, a PCSband, and a WCDMA band (i.e., up to about 2100 MHz), although it may beused for other bands/frequencies as well. To conserve space, the antenna45 may advantageously be implemented in three dimensions although it maybe implemented in two-dimensional or planar embodiments as well.

The mobile wireless communications device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 canincorporate e-mail and messaging accounts and provide differentfunctions such as composing e-mail, PIN messages, and SMS messages. Thedevice can manage messages through an appropriate menu that can beretrieved by choosing a messages icon. An address book function couldadd contacts, allow management of an address book, set address bookoptions and manage SIM card phone books. A phone menu could allow forthe making and answering of phone calls using different phone features,managing phone call logs, setting phone options, and viewing phoneinformation. A browser application could permit the browsing of webpages, configuring a browser, adding bookmarks, and changing browseroptions. Other applications could include a task, memo pad, calculator,alarm and games, as well as handheld options with various references.

A calendar icon can be chosen for entering a calendar program that canbe used for establishing and managing events such as meetings orappointments. The calendar program could be any type of messaging orappointment/meeting program that allows an organizer to establish anevent, for example, an appointment or meeting.

A non-limiting example of various functional components that can be usedin the exemplary mobile wireless communications device 20 of FIGS. 1 and2 is further described in the example below with reference to FIG. 3.The device 20 illustratively includes a housing 120, a keypad 140 and anoutput device 160. The output device 160 shown is preferably a display,which is preferably a full graphic LCD. Other types of output devicesmay alternatively be used. A processing device 180 is contained withinthe housing 120 and is coupled between the keypad 140 and the display160. The processing device 180 controls the operation of the display160, as well as the overall operation of the mobile device 20, inresponse to actuation of keys on the keypad 140 by the user.

The housing 120 may be elongated vertically, or may take on other sizesand shapes (including clamshell housing structures). The keypad mayinclude a mode selection key, or other hardware or software forswitching between text entry and telephony entry.

In addition to the processing device 180, other parts of the mobiledevice 20 are shown schematically in FIG. 3. These include acommunications subsystem 101; a short-range communications subsystem102; the keypad 140 and the display 160, along with other input/outputdevices 106, 108, 110 and 112; as well as memory devices 116, 118 andvarious other device subsystems 121. The mobile device 20 is preferablya two-way RF communications device having voice and data communicationscapabilities. In addition, the mobile device 20 preferably has thecapability to communicate with other computer systems via the Internet.

Operating system software executed by the processing device 180 ispreferably stored in a persistent store, such as the flash memory 116,but may be stored in other types of memory devices, such as a read onlymemory (ROM) or similar storage element. In addition, system software,specific device applications, or parts thereof, may be temporarilyloaded into a volatile store, such as the random access memory (RAM)118. Communications signals received by the mobile device may also bestored in the RAM 118.

The processing device 180, in addition to its operating systemfunctions, enables execution of software applications 130A-130N on thedevice 20. A predetermined set of applications that control basic deviceoperations, such as data and voice communications 130A and 130B, may beinstalled on the device 20 during manufacture. In addition, a personalinformation manager (PIM) application may be installed duringmanufacture. The PIM is preferably capable of organizing and managingdata items, such as e-mail, calendar events, voice mails, appointments,and task items. The PIM application is also preferably capable ofsending and receiving data items via a wireless network 141. Preferably,the PIM data items are seamlessly integrated, synchronized and updatedvia the wireless network 141 with the device user's corresponding dataitems stored or associated with a host computer system.

Communication functions, including data and voice communications, areperformed through the communications subsystem 101, and possibly throughthe short-range communications subsystem. The communications subsystem101 includes a receiver 150, a transmitter 152, and one or more antennae154 and 156. In addition, the communications subsystem 101 also includesa processing module, such as a digital signal processor (DSP) 158, andlocal oscillators (LOs) 161. The specific design and implementation ofthe communications subsystem 101 is dependent upon the communicationsnetwork in which the mobile device 20 is intended to operate. Forexample, the mobile device 20 may include a communications subsystem 101designed to operate with the Mobitex™, Data TAC™ or General Packet RadioService (GPRS) mobile data communications networks, and also designed tooperate with any of a variety of voice communications networks, such asAMPS, TDMA, CDMA, PCS, GSM, etc. Other types of data and voice networks,both separate and integrated, may also be utilized with the mobiledevice 20.

Network access requirements vary depending upon the type ofcommunication system. For example, in the Mobitex and DataTAC networks,mobile devices are registered on the network using a unique personalidentification number or PIN associated with each device. In GPRSnetworks, however, network access is associated with a subscriber oruser of a device. A GPRS device therefore requires a subscriber identitymodule, commonly referred to as a SIM card, in order to operate on aGPRS network.

When required network registration or activation procedures have beencompleted, the mobile device 20 may send and receive communicationssignals over the communication network 141. Signals received from thecommunications network 141 by the antenna 154 are routed to the receiver150, which provides for signal amplification, frequency down conversion,filtering, channel selection, etc., and may also provide analog todigital conversion. Analog-to-digital conversion of the received signalallows the DSP 158 to perform more complex communications functions,such as demodulation and decoding. In a similar manner, signals to betransmitted to the network 141 are processed (e.g., modulated andencoded) by the DSP 158 and are then provided to the transmitter 152 fordigital to analog conversion, frequency up conversion, filtering,amplification and transmission to the communication network 141 (ornetworks) via the antenna 156.

In addition to processing communications signals, the DSP 158 providesfor control of the receiver 150 and the transmitter 152. For example,gains applied to communications signals in the receiver 150 andtransmitter 152 may be adaptively controlled through automatic gaincontrol algorithms implemented in the DSP 158.

In a data communications mode, a received signal, such as a text messageor web page download, is processed by the communications subsystem 101and is input to the processing device 180. The received signal is thenfurther processed by the processing device 180 for an output to thedisplay 160, or alternatively to some other auxiliary I/O device 106. Adevice user may also compose data items, such as e-mail messages, usingthe keypad 140 and/or some other auxiliary I/O device 106, such as atouchpad, a rocker switch, a thumb-wheel, or some other type of inputdevice. The composed data items may then be transmitted over thecommunications network 141 via the communications subsystem 101.

In a voice communications mode, overall operation of the device issubstantially similar to the data communications mode, except thatreceived signals are output to a speaker 110, and signals fortransmission are generated by a microphone 112. Alternative voice oraudio I/O subsystems, such as a voice message recording subsystem, mayalso be implemented on the device 20. In addition, the display 160 mayalso be utilized in voice communications mode, for example to displaythe identity of a calling party, the duration of a voice call, or othervoice call related information and the NFC communications.

Any short-range communications subsystem enables communication betweenthe mobile device 20 and other proximate systems or devices, which neednot necessarily be similar devices. For example, the short-rangecommunications subsystem may include an infrared device and associatedcircuits and components, or a Bluetooth™ communications module toprovide for communication with similarly-enabled systems and devices andthe NFC communications.

It should be understood that GSM is a preferred communications systemand uses a radio interface that can have an uplink frequency band anddownlink frequency band with about 25 MHz bandwidth, typicallysubdivided into 124 carrier frequency channels, each spaced about 200KHz apart as non-limiting examples. Time division multiplexing can beused to allow about 8 speech channels per radio frequency channel,giving 8 radio time slots and 8 burst periods grouped into what iscalled a TDMA frame. For example, a channel data rate could be about270.833 Kbps and a frame duration of about 4.615 milliseconds (MS) inone non-limiting example. The power output can vary from about 1 toabout 2 watts.

Typically, linear predictive coding (LPC) can be used to reduce the bitrate and provide parameters for a filter to mimic a vocal track withspeech encoded at about 13 Kbps. Four different cell sizes can be usedin a GSM network, including macro, micro, pico and umbrella cells. Abase station antenna can be installed on a master building above theaverage rooftop level in a macrocell. In a microcell, the antenna heightcan be under the average rooftop level and used in urban areas.Microcells typically have a diameter of about a few dozen meters and areused indoors. Umbrella cells can cover shadowed regions or smallercells. Typically, the longest distance for the GSM specification coveredby an antenna is about 22 miles depending on antenna height, gain andpropagation conditions.

GSM systems typically include a base station subsystem, a network andswitching subsystem, and a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) corenetwork. A subscriber identify module (SIM) is usually implemented inthe communications device, for example, the well known SIM card, similarto a smart card containing the subscription information and phone bookof a user. The user can also switch handsets or could change operatorsby changing a SIM. USIM and RUIM and other similar technologies can beused.

The GSM signaling protocol has three general layers. Layer 1 is aphysical layer using channel structures above the air interface. Layer 2is the data link layer. Layer 3 is a signaling protocol, which includesthree sublayers. These include a Radio Resources Management sublayer tocontrol the setup, maintenance and termination of radio and fixedchannels, including handovers. A Mobility Management sublayer managesthe location updating and registration procedures and secures theauthentication. A Connection Management sublayer handles general callcontrol and manages supplementary services and the short messageservice. Signaling between different entities such as the Home LocationRegister (HLR) and Visiting Location Register (VLR) can be accomplishedthrough a Mobile Application Part (MAP) built upon the TransactionCapabilities Application Part (TCAP) of the top layer of the SignalingSystem No. 7.

A Radio Resources Management (RRM) sublayer can oversee the radio andfixed link establishment between the mobile station and an MSE.

It is also possible to used Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution(EDGE), as an enhancement to General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)networks. EDGE can use 8 Phase Shift Keying (8 PSK) and Gaussian MinimumShift Keying (GMSK) for different modulation and coding schemes. Athree-bit word can be produced for every changing carrier phase. A rateadaptation algorithm can adapt the Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS)according to the quality of the radio channel and the bit rate androbustness of data transmission. Base stations are typically modifiedfor EDGE use.

FIG. 4 is another block diagram of the mobile wireless communicationsdevice 20 with further details of the touch activated sensors and NearField Communication (NFC) circuit 51. As illustrated, the capacitivetouch sensors 52, 53 are located on either side of the housing 21 at amiddle area of the device 20 such that when the user desires to activatethe NFC circuit 51, the user grasps with two fingers the touch sensors52, 53 while the palm of the user's hand is placed against the frontportion of the mobile wireless communications device. The user touchesthe rear portion of the device against another NFC device or tag whileactivating the NEC circuit by touching the side sensors 52, 53. Thethird capacitive touch sensor 54 is located at the bottom of the mobilewireless communications device and when touched, such as by the palm ofthe user's hand, prevents power activation of the NFC IC chip 51.

For example, when activating the NFC circuit 51 to use the NFC enableddevice, typically the user will grasp the two capacitive touch sensors52, 53 with two fingers, while the palm of the user's hand will bepositioned at the front part of the mobile wireless communicationsdevice. The user touches the rear of the upper side of the housingagainst an NFC tag or other NFC-enabled device. The third touch sensor54 is positioned and configured such that it is not touched and the NFCcircuit enabled. The use of the third capacitive touch sensor willensure that there are no “false positives” since, if it is touched whilethe other two touch sensors 52,53 are touched, the power is not enabledto the NFC IC chip even though the capacitive touch sensors areactivated. When the user is regularly holding the device for emailmessaging or telephone communications, the third sensor is touched andactivated. Even accidental touching to the side sensors 52, 53 will notactivate the NFC circuit.

As shown in FIG. 4, a power circuit 55 a supplies power to the sidemounted capacitive touch sensors on either side of the housing. A powercircuit 55 b supplies power to the third capacitive touch sensor 54. TheNFC IC chip 51 includes an antenna “loop” circuit 56 configured for NFCcommunications. The NFC chip is connected to the other circuitry such asthe microprocessor, data storage, and display as non-limiting examples,and shown by the block at 57, corresponding to many of the circuitfunctions shown at Blocks 48, 50 in FIG. 1. A power circuit 58 for thedevice is connected into a switch circuit 59, which also connects thecapacitive touch sensors 52, 53, 54 such that power cannot be providedto the NFC IC chip 51 unless the switch circuit 59 enables the power,such as when the two capacitive touch sensors 52, 53 at the side aretouched. Of course, if the third sensor is touched 54, the switch 59does not enable power.

FIG. 5 is a high-level flow chart illustrating a basic method orsequence of steps for operation of the mobile wireless communicationdevice with a touch activated NFC circuitry and shows the NFC automaticpower control as a start of initiation at block 200. The NF circuitry ispowered down (block 202). A determination is made if the side contactsare touched and the third contact is not touched (block 204). If not theloop continues and if yes the NFC circuitry is powered up (block 206).At this time the application layer is notified about any available NFCfeatures (block 208). A determination is made if the side contacts aretouched and third contact not touched (block 210). If yes the loopcontinues and if not the application is informed about the NFC circuitrybeing turned off after N seconds of inactivity (block 212). The endseconds timer is started (block 214) and a determination is made if Nseconds has passed (block 216). If not than a determination is made ifthe side contacts are touched and third contact is not touched (block218). If yes then the loop continues back to the beginning of block 208and if not then a determination is made concerning the NFC activity(block 220). If not then the loop continues to beginning of the block216 and if yes then the end seconds timer is reset (block 222). If theend seconds has passed to block 216, then the end seconds timer isstopped (block 224).

It should be understood that the capacitive touch sensors can be formedfrom different materials including polyester-based capacitors andsimilarly formed materials. Typically, as illustrated in FIG. 4, eachcapacitive touch sensor 52, 53, 54 may include a capacitive sensorportion (SEN) 52 a, 53 a, 54 a and capacitance-to-digital converter(CDC) 52 b, 53 b and 54 b that are each operable with a touch sensorprocessor circuit 52 c, 53 c, and 54 c of the mobile wirelesscommunications device. The capacitive touch sensors 52,53,54 could bemanufactured using traces on standard two- or four-layer printed circuitboard or on a flex circuit. Each capacitance-to-digital converter 52 b,53 b and 54 b could be positioned on one capacitance sensor board (notshown) with each capacitance-to-digital converter including varioussensor inputs and an excitation source.

It is possible for each capacitive touch sensor 52, 53, 54 to include aglass overlay, with as much as few millimeters. It should be understoodthat the capacitive touch sensors 52, 53, 54 could use conductors thatinteract with electric fields and are operable with finger touchingbecause the human body contains conductive electrolytes covered by theskin as a lossy dielectric. The fingers can make capacitive touchsensing possible even with thick glass overlays. The sizes of thesensors can vary also. For example, a button diameter as part of acapacitive touch sensor button could be about 10 millimeters, theaverage size of an adult fingertip. Any printed circuit board used withsuch layers could include a ground layer and a circular cut-out with asensor in the middle. The PCB could be formed from FR4 in onenon-limiting example. The dielectric constant could influence howtightly the electric field energy can pack into the material as theelectric field tries to find a shorter path.

The capacitive touch sensors could include a programmable currentsource, precision analog comparator and analog multiplexer bus that cansequence through an array of different touch sensors or one sensor. Arelaxation oscillator could function as the capacitive touch sensor. Thecapacitive touch sensor could include circuitry having an output from acomparator that is fed into a clock input of a PWM that gates a counter.A finger positioned on the sensor could increase the capacitance, thus,increasing the counts. Different capacitive touch sensors, as known tothose skilled in the art, could be used besides those types of sensorsas described above.

Many different types of NFC IC circuit chips can possibly be used inaccordance with non-limiting examples of the patent invention. The NFCIC circuit chip could provide an interface that operates in both anactive and passive mode and transfers data using load modulation whilealso allowing for card emulation, such as ticketing applications. TheNFC IC circuit chip could be a system-on-chip solution. It is alsopossible to integrate the NFC with a Bluetooth, WiFi or UWB chip setbecause many of the processes and components required by these RF-basedtechnologies such as the antenna, power, clock, data bus, and othercomponents are the same. Different types of components could also beused, for example, the PN65K Near Field Communication (NFC) smartconnect module such as manufactured by NXP, founded by PhillipsCorporation, or the Near Field Communication PN531 microprocessor basedtransmission module manufactured by Phillips Semiconductor.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come tothe mind of one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachingspresented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not to be limited tothe specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications andembodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1. A mobile wireless communications device, comprising; a housing havingopposing sides; a processor carried by the housing; a Near FieldCommunications (NFC) circuit enclosed by the housing and operative withthe processor for communicating in accordance with a NFC communicationsprotocol; and a first touch activated sensor exposed at a side of thehousing and a second touch activated sensor exposed at the opposing sideof the housing from the first touch activated sensor and wherein firstand second touch activated sensors are operative for turning on the NFCcircuit when both the first and second touch activated sensors aretouched.
 2. The mobile wireless communications device according to claim1, and further comprising a circuit board for supporting the NFCcircuit.
 3. The mobile wireless communications device according to claim1, and further comprising a circuit board for supporting the processor.4. The mobile wireless communications device according to claim 1,wherein said first touch activated sensor is positioned to be touched byat least one finger when the housing is manually grasped and placed nearanother NFC enabled tag or device.
 5. The mobile wireless communicationsdevice according to claim 1, wherein said first touch activated sensorcomprises a capacitive touch sensor.
 6. The mobile wirelesscommunications device according to claim 5, wherein said capacitivetouch sensor comprises a capacitance-to-digital converter and processorassociated therewith.
 7. The mobile wireless communications deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein said NFC circuit comprises a NFCintegrated circuit (IC) chip.
 8. The mobile wireless communicationsdevice according to claim 1, and further comprising a power circuit forsupplying power to the NFC circuit, and a switch connected between thepower circuit and the NFC circuit and connected to the touch activatedsensor and operable for switching power on the NFC circuit only when thetouch activated sensor is touched.
 9. The mobile wireless communicationsdevice according to claim 1, and further comprising a first touchactivated sensor operative with a second touch activated sensor forensuring there are no false positives when the NFC circuit is enabled.10. A mobile wireless communications device, comprising; a housinghaving a front, rear and opposing sides and configured for handheld use;a circuit board supported within the housing; radio frequency (RF)circuitry and a processor carried by the housing and operative with eachother; a Near Field Communications (NFC) circuit positioned on thecircuit board and operative with the processor for communicating inaccordance with a NFC communications protocol when the rear side of thehousing is placed adjacent another NFC enabled tag or device; a firsttouch activated sensor supported at a side of the housing and operativefor enabling operation of the NFC circuit when touched to establish NFCcommunications from the communications device; and a second touchactivated sensor supported on a surface of the housing and operativewith the first touch activated sensor for ensuring there are no falsepositives when the NFC circuit is enabled.
 11. The mobile wirelesscommunications device according to claim 10, wherein said second touchactivated sensor that is positioned for ensuring there are no falsepositives is positioned to be engaged with the palm of a hand when thecommunications device is operated in a non-NFC enabled communicationsmode.
 12. The mobile wireless communications device according to claim10, wherein said first touch activated sensor is positioned to betouched by at least one finger when the housing is manually grasped andplaced near another NFC enabled tag or device.
 13. The mobile wirelesscommunications device according to claim 10, and further comprisingtouch activated sensors mounted at opposing sides of the housing andpositioned to be touched when establishing NFC communications.
 14. Themobile wireless communications device according to claim 10, said firsttouch activated sensor comprises a capacitive touch sensor.
 15. Themobile wireless communications device according to claim 14, whereinsaid capacitive touch sensor comprises a capacitance-to-digitalconverter and processor associated therewith.
 16. The mobile wirelesscommunications device according to claim 10, wherein said NFC circuitcomprises a NFC integrated circuit (IC) chip mounted on a circuit board.17. The mobile wireless communications device according to claim 10, andfurther comprising a power circuit for supplying power to the NFCcircuit, and a switch connected between the power circuit and the NFCcircuit and connected to a touch activated sensor and operable forswitching power ON to the NFC circuit only when the touch activatedsensor is touched.
 18. A method for enabling Near Field Communications(NFC) within a mobile wireless communications device, comprising:providing a housing and a circuit board carried by the housing andincluding radio frequency (RF) circuitry and a processor carried by thehousing and operative with each other, and a Near Field Communications(NFC) circuit positioned on the circuit board and operative with theprocessor for communicating in accordance with a NFC communicationsprotocol; touching touch activated sensors positioned on opposing sidesof the housing for enabling the NFC circuit; and manually positioningthe housing adjacent another NFC enabled tag or device to establish NFCcommunications between the mobile wireless communications device and theNFC enabled tag or device.
 19. The method according to claim 18, whichfurther comprises forming the first touch activated sensor as acapacitive touch sensor.
 20. The method according to claim 19, whichfurther comprises forming the first touch activated sensor as acapacitance-to-digital converter and processor associated therewith. 21.The method according to claim 18, which further comprises switchingpower into the NFC circuit for enabling same after the touch activatedsensor is touched.
 22. The method according to claim 18, which furthercomprises ensuring there are not false positives when the NFC circuit isenabled by another touch activated sensor positioned on the housing thatwhen touched, prevents the NFC circuit from being enabled.